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Stalwart
Stalwart= |-|Soldier= Stalwarts and soldiers are friendly NPCs that can help the player clear rooms. The only difference in their behavior is that soldiers can traverse shallow water while stalwarts can't. Description Stalwarts Stalwarts are the brave champions of Tueno. Their reputation for exceptional tenacity and swordsmanship have elevated them to almost mythical levels, so much so that their mere notoriety has prevented more wars than they've actually fought. Although Stalwarts aren't really invulnerable, they are formidable warriors, and their ability to learn and grow Each Stalwart is equipped with a full suit of gold-colored platemail, a short sword, and a shield. Unfortunately, this doesn't protect them very well in most dungeon environments, where fleet feet and quick wit are more useful companions. Furthermore, Stalwarts are trained in waging war, not solving puzzles, which often makes them a hindrance to smitemasters. Some Stalwarts possess the cleverness to delve in their own right, but most need to be "babysat" if they're to stay alive. Soldiers Soldiers represent the military of Rasarus. They have identical tactics to Stalwarts, which may be due to their ancient rivalry going back centuries, with each country trying to outwit the other. Soldiers' armor is colored blue instead of gold, and they know how to wade through marshes, but ultimately they're no better at delving than Stalwarts. Behavior: Movement Stalwart movement is quite dense. It must be broken into sections to be fully explained. The remainder of this article will use the term "Stalwart" to refer to both the Stalwart and Soldier elements. Basic Movement * Like other sworded creatures, Stalwarts know to keep their sword from away from things they don't want to kill or explode. This includes the player, friendly characters (mimics, decoys, clones, temporal clones, other Stalwarts, and Soliders), bombs, and powder kegs. They also take oremites into account. * Stalwarts can be frozen by Aumtlich beams. If a Stalwart is frozen, then he forgets everything else and merely rotates clockwise on the spot, forever, in hopes of breaking the beam. In this state, his sword will strike the player, his fellow Stalwarts, and even bombs and powder kegs if they happen to be in the way. * Otherwise, Stalwarts want to know if they can get at any accessible enemies. They look for all monsters in the room, and check to see which has the shortest path to them. If they don't find a path or don't find any monsters, then they'll just stay put and not do anything. If they do find a path, then they'll start following the shortest one. Pathfinding * The Stalwart looks for the shortest path to available to any accessible monster using wisp pathfinding. * This path is only valid if the Stalwart can currently walk along it without turning. Since Stalwarts pathfind at the start of every turn, it's possible one may have discovered a route last turn, then swung his sword to follow the path, and suddenly found his current orientation can't negotiate the path, even if a single rotation would make it possible again. Path-Following * Once the Stalwart has decided on his path, he will try to follow it. First, the Stalwart checks if he's already stabbing the monster. If so, he doesn't do anything. * If not, the Stalwart checks to see if his sword is next to the monster. If it is, he decides whether he needs to rotate or move to kill the monster on this turn: if possible, he does so. A Stalwarts will prefer to rotate to kill rather than move, but he is capable of backswipping if necessary. * If a Stalwart can't move to destroy the target on this turn, but he's two steps away from his enemy along his chosen path, then he'll turn until his sword is pointing directly at the target. If he's already facing his target, he'll move onto the final square along the path. * If a Stalwart is more than two spaces from his target, he will try to follow his chosen path. If his sword is within forty-five degrees of his current path, he'll keep moving along the path. * If a Stalwart is not facing within forty-five degrees of his current path, he'll try to turn his sword towards his target, favoring clockwise rotation over counterclockwise ones. In general, he wants to be facing in a horizontal or vertical direction if there is more than double the distance in one of the orthogonal directions than there is in the other. * A Stalwart will stay in place rotating his sword until its either pointing towards its target, or his sword is within one rotation of the direction he needs to take to follow his path. If the Stalwart cannot turn his sword, then he'll move instead, even if he wanted to turn rather than move. Path Obstacles * A Stalwart considers the basic set of obstacles to be impossible to walk on. It also considers all swords and characters/monsters to be impassible. Behavior: Other Vulnerabilities * Stalwarts can be killed by anything that could kill a smitemaster. Other * Stalwarts do not need to be killed to complete the room. * Preplaced Stalwarts wield a Really Big Sword, but a character Stalwart can wield a different weapon if his _MyWeapon variable is set to a value other than 0, and then runs the Turn Into Monster command. * Stalwarts' weapons are brain-visible objects. Goblins will avoid them like they avoid the player's weapon. * Soldiers can traverse shallow water, while Stalwarts cannot. * Despite their in-lore rivalry, Stalwarts and Soldiers do not attack each other. External Links Stalwart primer, by TFMurphy Category:Monsters Category:DROD Monsters